Support

ABSTRACT

A device including a first surface adapted to receive the haunches or posterior extremety of a person and a second surface adapted to receive either both or one of the persons feet, to support the person in a leaning type position with his weight distributed so that a sufficient amount thereof is transmitted through said second surface to the surface upon which the support is disposed to minimize relative movement therebetween and thus obviate the need for securing the support in place.

United States Patent Schmitt 1 51 Dec. 5, 1972 [54] SUPPORT FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [72] Inventor: FredA- Schm u y NJ. 1,149,147 5/1963 Germany ..297/438 472,715 6/1952 Italy [73] Assgnee' Busmess Systems New 236,823 7/1925 Great Britain; .297/243 York, NY.

[22] Filed: Sept. 2, 1970 Primary Examiner-William I-I. Schultz Attorney-Norman Friedman, Morris I. Pollack, i214] Appl" 68962 Arthur T. Groeninger, Stephen E. Feldman and Philip Furgang [52] US Cl ..248/127, 297/423 51 Int. Cl ..Fl6m 1 1/00 [571 ABSTRACT Field of Search ..248/ 121, 351; 297/ 423, A device including a first surface adapted to receive 297/438 the haunches or posterior extremety of a person and a second surface adapted to receive either both or one [56] References Cit d of the persons feet, to support the person in a leaning 1 type position with his weight distributed so that a suffi- UNITED STATES PATENTS cient amount thereof is transmitted through said 3,245,720 4/1966 Wenger .297/423 l Surface to the PY F upon which the support is disposed to m1n1m1ze :relatlve movement 2,960;15l 11/1960 .Fairgrieve ,....297/438 therebetween and thus obviate the need for securing 3,181,828 5/1965 Cramer ..297/423 the Support in place 3,414,323 12/1968 Mitchum ..297/46l 3,477,673 1 1/1969 Bereday ..297/353 4 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTEDHEB 51912 SHEET 1 0F 2 FIG. 2

FIG.

FIGA

INVENTOR FRED A. SCHMITT M m y? ATTORNEY PATENTEDBEE 51912 3.704.847

saw 2 OF 2 FIG.5

ATTORNEY INVENTOR FRED A. SCHMITT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION l. Field of Application This invention relates to supports and more particularly to a device for supporting a person in aleaning type position between a standing position and a sitting position.

2. Description of Prior Art In the course of normal day to day endeavors people engage in a number of activities where it is most convenient to be in a sitting position (that is with ones weight supported upon the haunches or the lower or posterior extremity of the trunk.) Eating meals at home or in a restaurant, watching television, attending the theater or sports events, and engaging in a behind the desk' type occupation, are, but a few of the activities usually engaged in while sitting down.

On the other hand many activities are engaged in while in a standing position (that is with ones weight supported on ones feet). Eating at a stand uplunch counter, engaging in short conversations, using card catalogs and similar type reference material in libraries, are but someof-the many activities which are usually engaged in while standing.

However, in accomplishing some of the activities usually performed in a standing position a personmay get tired and their feet may begin to hurt from supporting the weight of the body thereupon. To move into a sitting position either upon a high stool, or in a chair in and of itself takes time, may inconvenience the performance of the activity, and quite often relaxes a person so sitting that they will spend a longer time at the activity then necessary. Thus a seated person may procrastinate a conversation with another who has other business to take care of, or dawdle over a cup of coffee in a restaurant thus preventing other people from obtaining space at the counter, and so on.

I To relieve the affect of the weight upon the feet people sometimes lean against a wall, upon a rail, on the back .of a chair, against a desk, or upon or against any other conveniently positioned object. As suchlthe person is attempting to distribute the weight between the feet and the part of the body positioned against such objects. Quite often however, there is no such object available, assuming such a leaning position may present more of an inconvenience then arelief, or assuming such a position may otherwise detract from the activity.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved support.

It is a further object to provide an improved device for supporting a person in a position wherein the person is neither fully standing nor fully seated.

A still further object is to provide a device for supporting a person with his weight distributed between one or both of his feet and his haunch or posterior ex-. tremity.

Still another object is to provide a device for supporting a person in a leaning type position.

It is still another object to provide a support device which need not be secured to the surface upon which it rests, upon which a person may lean, and which utilizes a least some of the weight of the person when leaning thereagainst to prevent relative movement between the support device and the surface upon which it rests.

This invention involves supports for persons; and

contemplates providing a support which need not be secured to the surface upon which it rests and which is provided with at least one. portion against which the BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings: FIG. 1 is a left side view of the support incorporating the instant invention and schmetically showing a person leaning thereupon;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the support of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the support of FIG. 2;

. FIG. 4 is a top view of the support of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a partial side view of a modified version of my support of FIG. 1 showing a stabilizing extension added thereto;

FIG; 6 is a top view of the modified version ofFlG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a front perspective view of a modified form of a support embodying the instant invention; and

FIG. 8'is a still further modified version of the support of the instant invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference to FIG. 1 there is generally shown at 20 a support including a first surface 22 adapted to receive the haunches of a person and a ledge or second surface 24 (FIGS. 1 and 2) adapted to receiveone or both feet of the person. A, rear wall 26 interconnects first surface 22 to ledge or second surface 24 through a floor engaging portion 28. t

A front wall 30 (FIGS. 1 and .3) spaced from rear wall 26 by an opening 32 also interconnects first surface 22 to floor engaging portion. 28. An aperture 36 (FIGS. 2 and 3) is provided in front wall 30 and is formed with a lower edge 38 upon which a person may rest one of his feet if he so desires.

Support 20 may be formed of metal, plastic, wood or any other convenient substance which can be shaped to the configuration shown. It may be constructed either with or without aperature 36 and either with or without the taper clearly shown in FIG. 3. Support 20 must however be formed so as to distribute the weight of the person leaning thereupon between the feet of the person and the haunches, and in such a way that there is sufficient weight upon floor engaging portion 28 to prevent toppling or support 20.

In FIGS. 5 and 6 there is shown a support 50 which is in all respects identical to support 20 of FIGS. 1 4 except that floor engaging portion 52 and rear wall 54 thereof carry an extension 56 of a configuration to provide additional stability and prevent toppling of support 50 when a person leans thereagainst.

In' FIG. 7 there is shown a support 70 formed with a first surface 72 adapted to receive the haunches of a person and a ledge or second surface 74 adapted to receive the persons feet interconnected through a rear wall 76 and a floor engaging portion 78. A person utilizing support 70 would rest with his haunch upon first surface 72 and either both of his feet upon ledge 74 or one foot thereupon and one foot upon floor engaging 78. Thus distributing his weight so that there is a sufficient amount of weight upon ledge 74 and or portion 78 to prevent relative movement between support 70 and the surface upon which it rests.

In FIG. 8 there is shown a support 90 with a first surface 92 adapted to receive the haunches of a person and a ledge or second surface 94 adapted to receive the persons foot or feet. A pair of spaced bar like members 96 interconnect ledge 94 to surface 92. An additional ledge 98 is connected by bars 100 to surface 92.

In utilizing support 90 a person rests with his posterior against surface 92 and with either both of his feet upon ledge 94 or one of his feet thereupon and the other upon the surface upon which support 90 is disposed. In the alternative a person may rest with his posterior against surface 92 so that either both of his feet are upon ledge 98 or one of his feet is upon ledge 98 and the other upon the surface upon which support 90 is disposed. In either case the persons weight would be so distributed that there is sufficient amount upon either ledge 94 or ledge 98 to prevent relative movement between support 90 and the surface upon which support is disposed.

From the above description it will thus be seen that a novel and improved support has been provided; which support connects a surface upon which the posterior of a person may rest to a surface adapted to support the feet of a person in such a manner that a sufficient amount of the persons weight is directed through the feet to the support and the surface upon which the support is disposed to prevent relative movement between the support and said surface and thus provides a convenient device which does not present the detriment of a seat but which at the same time enables a person to relax from a standing position for a period of time sufficient to accomplish their activities; and which furthermore is simple, inexpensive and pleasing in appearance.

It is understood that although I have shown the preferred form of my invention that various modifications may be made in the details thereof without departing from the spirit as comprehended by the following claims.

lclaim:

1. A support wherein said aperature is formed with a lower edge disposed so as to have at least one foot of a person rest thereon when the person is in said leaning type position.

2. A support comprising: a first surface adapted to support a portion of a person; a second surface adapted to support another portion of the person; and means interconnecting said first surface and said second surface so that when the person is being supported thereon, the weight of said person is distributed in such a manner that relative movement between the support and the surface upon which the support is disposed is minimized,

said means including a floor engaging portion and a rear wall rising from proximate the rear extremity of said floor engaging portion and merging in a continuous manner with the rear extremity of said first surface, and a front wall rising from a location between the front and rear extremities of said floor engaging portion and merging with a front extremity of said first surface so as to be continuous therewith.

3. The support of claim 2 wherein the outside of said rear wall is arcuately contoured and merges with the rear extremity of said first surface at a point in elevation above where said front wall merges with the front extremity of said first surface such that said first surface is disposed at an incline relative to said floor engaging portion.

4. A support comprising:

a first surface adapted to support a portion of a person;

a second surface adapted to support another portion of the person; and

means interconnecting said first surface and said second surface so that when the person is being supported thereon, the weight of saidperson is distributed in such a manner that relative movement between the support and the surface upon which the support is disposed is minimized,

said interconnecting means including a floor engaging portion and wall means interconnecting said floor engaging portion to said first surface,

said wall means including spaced wall-like portions rising from said floor engaging portion to carry said first surface.

said wall-like portions including a rear wall rising from proximate the rear extremity of said floor engaging portion to proximate the rear extremityof said first surface, and a front wall rising from a location between the front and rear extremities of said floor engaging portion to proximate a front extremity of said first surface,

said front wall having formed therein an aperture. 

1. A support wherein said aperature is formed with a lower edge disposed so as to have at least one foot of a person rest thereon when the person is in said leaning type position.
 2. A support comprising: a first surface adapted to support a portion of a person; a second surface adapted to support another portion of the person; and means interconnecting said first surface and said second surface so that when the person is being supported thereon, the weight of said person is distributed in such a manner that relative movement between the support and the surface upon which the support is disposed is minimized, said means including a floor engaging portion and a rear wall rising from proximate the rear extremity of said floor engaging portion and merging in a continuous manner with the rear extremity of said first surface, and a front wall rising from a location between the front and rear extremities of said floor engaging portion and merging with a front extremity of said first surface so as to be continuous therewith.
 3. The support of claim 2 wherein the outside of said rear wall is arcuately contoured and merges with the rear extremity of said first surface at a point in elevation above where said front wall merges with the front extremity of said first surface such that said first surface is disposed at an incline relative to said floor engaging portion.
 4. A support comprising: a first surface adapted to support a portion of a person; a second surface adapted to support another portion of the person; and means interconnecting said first surface and said second surface so that when the person is being supported thereon, the weight of said person is distributed in such a manner that relative movement between the support and the surface upon which the support is disposed is minimized, SAID interconnecting means including a floor engaging portion and wall means interconnecting said floor engaging portion to said first surface, said wall means including spaced wall-like portions rising from said floor engaging portion to carry said first surface. said wall-like portions including a rear wall rising from proximate the rear extremity of said floor engaging portion to proximate the rear extremity of said first surface, and a front wall rising from a location between the front and rear extremities of said floor engaging portion to proximate a front extremity of said first surface, said front wall having formed therein an aperture. 